Chapter 82: Grand Opening

If Jiang Xu couldn’t so clearly sense the old man’s life force, he would have thought he was just a Puppet.

While cleaning the items on the shop’s shelves, Jiang Xu couldn’t help but pick up several of the Tier One Upper Grade Talismans and examine them closely.

"Small Breaking Charm, Thunder Fire Talisman, Water Prison Talisman..."

Jiang Xu read the names out loud one by one, growing more shocked with each one.

’These are all considered extremely difficult to create, even among Tier One Upper Grade Talismans. The normal market price for each type used to be sixty or seventy Spirit Stones, let alone now! The raw materials to make them must be top-quality Tier One Upper Grade Talisman Skins.’

Jiang Xu looked at the old man, speculating to himself, ’With this level of skill in Talisman Making, even if this old man isn’t a Tier Two Talisman Maker, he can’t be far from it. The brushwork on those Talismans is so fluid and effortless... he’s quite possibly a Tier Two Talisman Maker.’

To go from being a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and a Tier Two Talisman Maker at that, to such a decrepit old man who couldn’t even stabilize his Cultivation.

It was impossible to imagine what sort of ordeal he must have suffered.

’I don’t know if coming here is a blessing or a curse, but for now, it doesn’t seem to be affecting me either way.’

...

Now that the shop was completely clean, Jiang Xu had no intention of letting it sit idle.

Why had Jiang Xu come to the Marketplace in the first place?

To earn more Spirit Stones.

Although he had a fair number of Spirit Stones on hand, with no income, he would eventually deplete all his savings.

He had to take advantage of the fact that Talisman prices in the Marketplace were soaring and demand was far outstripping supply.

He had to make a killing!

During the time he spent lying in wait for Ji Shengliang, Jiang Xu had also created a fair number of Talismans.

Now, he put his own Talismans out for display as well.

After all, the shop couldn’t be stocked with only High-Level Talismans.

It sounded impressive, but not everyone could afford them.

After finishing his preparations, Jiang Xu ran into a bit of a problem.

’Everything’s ready, but how do I attract customers? This location is pretty out of the way. It used to just look like an abandoned, dilapidated shack, so I doubt anyone ever comes over here.’

Jiang Xu racked his brains and finally came up with a plan!

...

"What the heck is this?"

Lai Baoqiong was an ordinary Loose Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer.

He had recently heard that the Profound Origin Sect had opened up some kind of Secret Realm near the Endless Forest.

So, he had made a special trip over, hoping to get a piece of the action.

He was already approaching fifty this year. If he didn’t give it his all one more time, he might never even reach the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer Realm in his lifetime.

Unfortunately, Lai Baoqiong’s timing was off.

The previous batch of slots the Profound Origin Sect had allocated to Loose Cultivators was already full.

He could only wait in the Marketplace, intending to be the first in line to register for the next batch.

However, he heard that this time, the slots would require a selection trial; one had to possess sufficient combat strength to qualify.

Thus, Lai Baoqiong planned to buy some items like Magical Artifacts and Talismans to increase his combat strength.

He just didn’t expect that in the various shops around the Marketplace, these items were either out of stock or of poor quality and absurdly expensive.

This meant Lai Baoqiong had yet to find anything he was satisfied with and could only wander the Marketplace, searching for an opportunity.

Today, Lai Baoqiong was once again out searching the streets.

Suddenly, he saw an arrow on the ground of a street he would normally never set foot on!

The arrow was pointing inward, deeper down the street.

Lai Baoqiong found this strange.

He had passed by here before but had never seen this arrow.

Since Lai Baoqiong had nothing better to do at the moment, he let his curiosity guide him and followed the arrow toward its destination.

After walking a few hundred meters, Lai Baoqiong finally reached the arrow’s end point.

’World’s Number One Talisman? The characters are well-written...’

Lai Baoqiong glanced at the shop in front of him:

’But isn’t this shop a little on the small side?’

Just then, Lai Baoqiong noticed the words carved into two stone tablets, one on each side of the shop’s entrance.

"Grand Opening Celebration, with discounts on top of discounts?"

Staring at the unfamiliar terms, Lai Baoqiong was a little confused.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lai Baoqiong stepped inside the shop.

...

’Finally! After all that work, a customer has finally arrived!’

When Jiang Xu saw Lai Baoqiong enter the shop, his eyes lit up.

"Customer! Welcome! What are you looking for today?"

Lai Baoqiong was taken aback by Jiang Xu’s enthusiastic welcome and said sheepishly,

"I’ll just take a look first, just a look."

"You got it! Take your time!"

Lai Baoqiong began to inspect the Talismans on the shelves of the small shop.

Jiang Xu had sorted all the Talismans by function and grade.

Grades included Tier One Lower, Middle, and Upper Grade, while their functions were categorized as Attack, Defense Type, and Support.

Lai Baoqiong was shocked all over again when he saw the selection of Talismans.

’Talismans that have long been sold out in other shops are so well-stocked here! And they even have precious Tier One Upper Grade Talismans!’

’This is the kind of thing that can save your life!’

Though his eyes burned with desire, the Spirit Stones in Lai Baoqiong’s Storage Bag weren’t enough for him to afford such expensive items. He could only sigh in resignation.

’I can’t afford the expensive ones, but I can still buy a few of the cheaper ones to use.’

Lai Baoqiong picked out a few Lower Grade Talismans and walked up to the counter where Jiang Xu was standing.

It was only then that Lai Baoqiong noticed the strange, decrepit old man.

His gaze was curious, but seeing that Jiang Xu had no intention of offering an explanation, he didn’t press the matter and simply said,

"I’ll just take these Talismans."

"You got it! Let’s see... one Light Body Talisman, three Fireball Talismans, one Golden Light Talisman... that’s five Talismans in total! A grand total of ten Spirit Stones!"

Lai Baoqiong secretly nodded.

’The current market price is about the same. Looks like this little shop isn’t one of those dishonest businesses trying to rip people off.’

Just as Lai Baoqiong was about to pay with his Spirit Stones, he heard Jiang Xu announce in a loud voice,

"Congratulations, customer, for taking part in our ’World’s Number One Talisman’ Grand Opening Celebration! All Talismans in the store are 5% off! Your Talismans, originally ten Spirit Stones, now cost only nine and a half!"

Lai Baoqiong’s jaw dropped.

It was the first time he’d ever heard of any kind of "celebration" sale.

’I was all ready to pay, and he just voluntarily knocked half a Spirit Stone off the price. Is there something wrong with his head? No, I have to pay him quickly, before he changes his mind!’

With that thought, Lai Baoqiong quickly took out the Spirit Stones, only to hear Jiang Xu shout loudly once more,

"Congratulations, customer! You’ve qualified to apply for a ’World’s Number One Talisman’ membership! Once you become a member of our shop, you can enjoy our second tier of extra discounts!

As long as your Talisman purchase in our shop is ten Spirit Stones or more, we’ll take off another half a Spirit Stone!!!"

"Really?!"

Lai Baoqiong was stunned.

Could such a good deal really exist in this world?

Lai Baoqiong slapped the counter and asked excitedly,

"So how do I apply for this membership?"